


use your hands in my spare time

by teskodanceparty



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2013-11-09
Packaged: 2017-12-31 22:24:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teskodanceparty/pseuds/teskodanceparty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara knows gunshots, knows how fast her body can move and dive for cover, arms over her head and knees up to her chest. She knows this, but it’s been years (a whole other lifetime really) since it last happened so close to her and she’s slow to move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	use your hands in my spare time

Tara knows gunshots, knows how fast her body can move and dive for cover, arms over her head and knees up to her chest. She knows this, but it’s been years (a whole other lifetime really) since it last happened so close to her and she’s slow to move.

She hears the quick _poppoppop_ of gunfire and freezes before she can really react, and it’s stupid, she knows it, but the first thing she thinks of is the pastry she’d been eating as it falls from her hand and glass from the window of the shop she was walking past blows out.

There are arms covering her head suddenly, a face hidden in her shoulder and pushing her to ground as a voice hisses, “shit, you alright? You gotta be alright.” And she clings. She’s not proud of it, but she is scared and was just shot at, so it’s an allowance she gives herself.

When the person pulls away, or she lets them go enough that they can move, there’s a fairly handsome man smiling sheepishly down at her, and he’s rubbing circles into her arms.

"Y’good?" He asks her and smiles and it’s crooked and bright and all Tara can do is nod, swallowing hard.

"Stay there." He tells her, motions for her to stay low, as he scrabbles away toward someone laying on the ground. He crunches over broken glass, kneels beside someone in far worse shape then either of them. Tara can hear the fast hiss of a curse before he turns back to her, asks if she has a phone on her to call 911.

"Yes," she says, starts to move towards them, "I mean no, I left it at home."

His eyes don’t leave her as she gets closer and kneels, right in his space.

"I’m a doctor," she says, adds, "my name is Tara." As an afterthought and they both huff a laugh.

"Juice." He says, and winces, the person bleeding out in front of them squeezing his hand.

"Alright Juice," Tara says, knows she’s making a face and fails to hide it, "here’s what we’re going to do."

 

•

 

“That was awesome.” Juice says for the seventh time since they were seated, and his grin reaches his eyes now, lighting up his entire face. Tara smiles down at the table in between them and nods.

"It was pretty amazing." She finally concedes, and Juice, still grinning, knocks his knuckles against the back of her hands folded on the tabletop. Their server, a girl in her early twenties who looks as exhausted as they are, brings over their drinks, smiling tiredly at them both before walking away.

"You alright?" He asks her, and she’s stopped paying attention to how many times he’s asked.

"Yeah." She says, tries a smile again. It must not pass the test, because his hands close over both of hers and he whispers her name like–like something intimate. She doesn’t think he’s earned it, they certainly haven’t known each other long enough but at the same time she doesn’t not like it.

"I’m just tired, really." She says, sighs and tries to laugh it off when it sounds harsh, even to her. Juice’s smile softens though,thumbs rubbing soothing circles onto the back of her hands.

"Of what?" He asks after a few minutes, and takes a sip of his coffee (lots of cream and sugar.) Tara hums, warms her hand on her cup (black, five sugars) and takes a sip before whispering, "Running, maybe?" And she’s not very surprised when Juice seems to understand what she means.

 

•

 

She learns that Juice is from Queens, had moved up to Boston to get off the block and stay out of trouble a few years back, that he works in tech support. When he laughs, his whole face lights up, the lines at the corners of his eyes growing more pronounced. Tara doesn’t know why, but she has to hold onto her cup of coffee until her knuckles are white to keep from tracing them. In return she tells him about growing up in Charming, not everything, not much honestly, but it’s enough for him, he nods and smiles and doesn’t push for more.

When they leave, he holds the door open for her and offers to walk her home, and Tara finds herself linking her arm through his and letting him.

"This was nice," Juice says at her door, winces, says, "I mean-"

"Aside from the drive-by shooting and patching up a gut shot until the ambulance got there, yeah, it was." Tara chuckles, and finally pulls away from him, moves to unlock her door. When she turns around to tell him goodnight, his hands fidgeting anxiously at his sides.

"I-uh, shit," he stammers. Seems to steel himself before crowding into her space, one hand on her waist the other on the side of her neck.

"Are you going to kiss me or check my scalp for ticks?" She hears herself say before even realizing she’s saying it, and he huffs a laugh, leans in and rubs his nose against hers.

"Let’s save playing doctor for our second date." Juice whispers, and then he’s kissing her.

 

•

 

When Tara finally makes it into her apartment, there’s blood staining the knees of her jeans, the lines of her hands, under her nails. Her lips twinge when she wets them, and the image of Juice leaning in, his smile, the shadow of his eyelashes on his cheeks, flashes behind her eyelids every time she blinks.

She’s got his number in her phone, a half-disgusted promise to upgrade her to the newest smart phone, and a text message blinking on the screen when she falls into bed that reads 'goodnight gorgeous.' When she sees it in the morning she can’t help but grin.

**Author's Note:**

> this takes place in a pre-canon au where Tara never went back to Charming, landing her in some major city on the east coast and Juice just so happening to be there as well. (i like Boston, so that's what i was thinking of, but its totally up to you)


End file.
